LGBTQ+ Affirming Counsellors in Edinburgh, SCT

Are you feeling alone, unheard or misunderstood? Maybe you feel anxious, angry, or hurt. Do you feel as though no one is there for you or listens to how you are feeling? Maybe you have tried to speak to friends and family but they either just don't get it or tell you what you should or shouldn't be doing and the conversation shifts to their problems. When was the last time someone really sat with you and gave you their undivided attention to talk about how YOU are feeling? What would it feel like to truly be heard and understood? To be able to express how you feel without the worry of being judged or fear of upsetting someone?

Finding the right therapist for you is as much about their style and personality as their qualifications. I value warmth, collaboration, and humour when appropriate and I endeavour to bring these qualities to my practice. My work is integrative which means I can use different theories to suit each individual client's needs. I draw on relational psychoanalysis, attachment theory, Internal Family systems, ACT and humanistic approaches. I am also influenced by my interest in film and literature. I am a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.

Here you are looking for a therapist... Hello there, I'm Tamsin. Finding the right therapist is an important decision and I recognise it takes courage to take this first move towards change. Maybe Online Counselling will suit you best or being Face-to-Face in a comfortable room appeals to you? I believe the moment a person feels heard can be the start of their healing process. You may be seeking somewhere to bring all those difficult emotions, feelings and experiences. Imagine finding your safe space to explore your own sense of self, work out some difficult decisions or gain peace of mind with your loss and heal from past trauma.

Are you adversely affected by negative or unwanted emotions? A large focus in my work is helping my clients to achieve conscious control of an otherwise subconscious process. After 6 - 8 sessions of working with me, you will have much better control of your emotions, therefore a lot of issues that revolve around unwanted emotions will no longer be an issue.

Are you or a loved one struggling with obsessional thoughts or compulsive behaviours? Perhaps you have been experiencing social anxiety or low mood which has led you to avoid certain activities, people, or places. Are you are now wanting to be able to find enjoyment and fulfilment in your life? If you are struggling with your mental health, I can help you to overcome these difficulties with regular online cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) sessions. Please feel free to check out my website www.kirstyshawcbt.com

It can often be a bit of a struggle to take that first step into making contact with a therapist, and it’s important that everyone who approaches my practice is treated with respect and honesty. I work with those who are experiencing a wide range of difficulties and situations. Counselling allows us to explore and understand ourselves and work towards new ways of coping while improving our overall wellbeing in an environment where we feel safe and supported.

Many things bring us to counselling. For some, it is overwhelming emotions, such as loss or anger. For others, it is painful or restrictive marital or family relationships. Some of us seek counselling because day-to-day life feels pointless or it’s dominated by anxiety. Some of us are quite stuck: for example, you may have a part of you that wants to achieve things in life but another part of you habitually sabotages your efforts.

It’s normal, at some point, to get stuck, or to struggle facing life's challenges. Sometimes we know exactly what’s wrong but at other times we might just have a nagging sense that something isn’t quite right. Therapy can help by supporting you to explore the roots of your distress, understand more clearly what’s keeping you stuck, and create new ways to think about yourself and your relationship roles and patterns. By uncovering the obstacles holding you back, you can learn to problem-solve, make better choices, practise healthier coping strategies, and turn your goals into realities to find a greater sense of peace and fulfilment.

Do you feel you don’t have goals or you can’t achieve them although you have tried everything? Do you feel paralysed or overwhelmed facing certain situations? Do you feel everything is annoying or your anger, sadness or fear last for long time? Do you feel stuck with some thoughts and you can’t stop overthinking them? Do you see these features within a member of your family? I think everyone will feel like this over the course of our lives, even it can be adaptative. However, sometimes we can struggle to find clarity and understanding , at the same time that respect both ourselves and others.

Do you feel you would like your relationship to be in a better place? Perhaps you're going through a life transition, such as becoming parents, or you're raising a family and you would love to find that spark between you as a couple again. Have you noticed a distance between you, and that you miss the closeness and intimacy you once shared? Maybe your relationship has reached a crisis point such as an affair and you're looking to help your relationship heal. Or maybe communication has become an issue, leaving you feeling that your true needs are not being met and you would like to understand each other better.

Looking for a counsellor is already a brave step. My hope for you, is that we can explore whats distressing you, what’s maintaining it and how we can bring about positive change. Anxiety, Low Mood and Relationship struggles amongst others, are all issues we can face at various times in our life. Understanding ourselves better and how to best cope can begin to alleviate the discomfort felt in emotional distressing times. Therapy provides a safe space to explore what's keeping you stuck, what's driving it and how to unlock yourself from thinking and behaviours that no longer serve you.

I love working with people, getting to know you and hearing your story. I believe that we are all unique. One of the things I love most about my work is the privilege of seeing someone begin to thrive and to enjoy their life again. I love helping to find some inner calm, clarity of thought and to be practicing self compassion as part of their everyday lives. I work in a bespoke way, tailor making my approach to each person. However, that said, everyone's needs compassion and so a compassion focused therapy approach runs through all of my work. I am most definitely a human first and a psychologist second.

I offer online 1-1 CBT sessions of psychotherapy for various mental health conditions, including anxiety & depression. We can start by having a free 15 minute chat by Teams, WhatsApp video, FaceTime etc initially. You can ask me questions you need to know to help you decide if you would like to go ahead & book a session with me. Bookings can be made on my Sparc-CBT Therapy Facebook page, or by telephone, or by e-mail. My aim it to provide you with the comfort of a safe therapeutic relationship that will allow you, through facilitation, to flourish in your life. My 30+ years career has been involved in offering support & guidance.

Front Line Workers Specialism: Is the toll of your work grinding you down? Do you experience burnout? Has witnessing death and trauma impacted you in ways which are difficult to describe? Is there a sense of losing who you once were? Witnessing devastation, shift work, mistrust in management, lack of sleep, feeling undervalued, high workloads, poor work culture, relationship difficulties, dynamic stressful working environments and intrusive negative memories all contribute to an ever increasing proportion of emergency service workers suffering from anxiety, depression, PTSD, suicide ideation and suicide. So who helps the helper?

When it comes to relationships, do you • Find it hard to say no to people? • Find yourself doing all the heavy lifting, but feel people often take you for granted? • Feel left out, lonely and resentful? NOW IMAGE YOURSELF • Saying no to people without feeling guilty • Genuinely looking forward to spending quality time with others • Being clear and firm with other people about how you feel • Being open and honest about how you feel, without worrying about the other person’s response.